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Combadge
combadge]] combadge]] The combadge is a combination of a badge and communicator designed to be worn on a uniform. In Starfleet, the combadge replaced standalone communicators in the early 24th century. Similar devices are used by other organizations, including the Bajoran Militia. Combadges are used for on board ship communication with other Starfleet personnel when, using the internal communication system is not possible or impractical, for accessing the onboard computer when not in an area that the computer is monitoring, for ship-to-shore communications, and for direct communication to another combadge. Combadges are configured to act as universal translators. ( ; ) Due to the size of the combadge, its working range is limited to five hundred kilometers, although a starship can boost the signal to bridge larger distances. ( ) The combadge can be opened for maintenance purposes or to be used as a beacon. ( ; ) In emergency situations, a combadge can be modified for use in other applications. It can be converted into a subspace distress beacon, or the tiny power cell can be extracted for other uses. Lieutenant Worf used it to power a home-made field generator for several seconds. If the casing of the combadge is ever cracked, an emergency distress signal is emitted. ( ; ) The Starfleet combadge can be deactivated by tapping it twice in rapid succession. ( ; ) (Note: the EMH of used this technique not to deactivate his combadge, but to gain the attention of the ship's crew ( ) As a symbol of loss of membership in Starfleet, personnel that have resigned or have been relieved of duty must turn in their combadges. ( ) Taking off one's combadge constitutes taking off one's uniform. ( ; ) Combadges can be used by the transporter as a way to lock on to any Starfleet personnel, or object with a combadge attached, thus making transport faster and more accurate. Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge used his combadge to allow the transporter to beam off an explosive device that the Ansata terrorists planted on the during their mission on Rutia IV. ( ) Known components The Starfleet combadge is a crystalline composite of: *Gold ( ) *Microfilament ( ) *Silicon ( ) *Beryllium ( ) *Carbon-Seventy ( ) Background Information The Starfleet insignia pin first used in would later become a combadge, as Lieutenant Richard Castillo can been seen pressing his and speaking into it in . The combadge with the rectangular back was first seen in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode , before being used continually in the series and Star Trek: Voyager. It also appeared in the four ''The Next Generation'' movies. There have been three possible future combadges used in Star Trek. In the combadge comprised the delta shield and rectangular strips behind it signifying rank, doing away with rank pips. The second future combadge seen comprises a delta shield outline backed by two vertical gold quadrangles. This badge has been seen in , , , and . Also seen in Voyager is a 29th century combadge. This is a 'winged' arrowhead, similar in style to the insignia found on a 24th century starship hull. It has been seen in the episodes , and . Category:Communications technology